New SC Chief Justice Lourdes Sereno 'brings a lot of heavy baggage' - Doronila

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Amando Doronila writes...
It’s true that Filipinos expect a fair administration of justice in this changing of the guard from the a much-maligned corrupt regime to one that proclaims itself as the embodiment of unsullied rectitude in governance and as God’s gift to the Filipino people. But this exhortation to Sereno had a hypocritical ring because it was made by a scion of one of the wealthiest landlord families in the country; it was addressed to someone who, as associate justice of the high court appointed two years ago, wrote a dissenting opinion putting the value of just compensation for Hacienda Luisita, which is owned by the President’s kin, at 2006 valuation (P2.5 million per hectare), and not at the 1989 fair market value (P40,000 per hectare).

Now highlighting the doubt cast on the future independence of the high court, he writes further: "These ostensibly amicable relations between the administration and the high court are deceptive and hardly mask the fact that the President is more interested in subordinating the tribunal than in restoring public trust in it."

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